The Wheel of Time turns, and book series come and pass. But you know how these things go: by the time a book series has faded into myth, it is soon to be reprinted again, with a shinier, nicer cover than ever before. And so it shall be for Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, which is soon to get its first ever widespread leatherbound treatment from Brandon Sanderson's company Dragonsteel.
Sanderson first announced that Dragonsteel Books is producing leatherbound editions for the series back at the Dragonsteel Nexus convention in December 2024. "We wanted to give The Wheel of Time the treatment it deserves," he said at the time. "Our goal is one book a year to get through the whole series...and to give it our best possible leatherbound treatment."
This new run of leatherbounds is expected to kick off later this year with The Eye of the World. The team at Dragonsteel who's working on the books recently attended JordanCon, a Wheel of Time-focused convention, where they gave some insights into how the production process is going. Did you miss JordanCon? Don't worry, I did too; you can still catch those insights through the Wheel of Time leatherbound project newsletter, which just sent out its very first update.
The Dragonsteel team working on the leatherbound editions includes Isaac Stewart, Shawn Boyles, and Petar Penev, as well as Maria Simmons from Team Jordan. Penev is one of the lead artists on the leatherbound editions, and while he wasn't at Dragonsteel, the Dragonsteel members in attendance brought some statements from him so that he was there in spirit. Penev's three guiding principles for this new edition of The Eye of the World can be summed up as: "Humility to translate rather than reinvent; Respect every character, every plotline, every description; and Love, the magic ingredient to make everything special."
"Every piece of art, every design decision in this edition honors the original text. Petar is meticulous in his research, and it really shows," the newsletter reads. "Some of his pieces feature 'extras' in the background, and if you look closely, you may recognize some actual characters described as being part of the Two Rivers populating the image. The goal of this meticulous process is to create the ultimate immersive experience for those reading this edition of The Eye of the World."
Dragonsteel working closely with Robert Jordan's widow and editor on new Wheel of Time editions
The newsletter features a bunch of really cool artwork and is a fascinating look behind the scenes for how this new edition of The Eye of the World is coming together. Part of that process is that the Dragonsteel team is coordinating very closely with Harriet McDougal, Jordan's widow and the long-time editor for The Wheel of Time.
“Every time I get a new piece of art back or a new element, I send it to Harriet and Maria," said Shawn Boyles. "We can’t exactly make the book that Jim [Robert Jordan] would want, but we can make the book that Harriet wants. She’s been there from the start, longer than anyone.”
It sounds like so far this edition is getting McDougal's blessing; she even commented on how the artwork captured Loial's pockets the exact way Jordan described them. And the team working on this is planning ahead with its artwork, designing it with future books in mind. The newsletter confirms they're "already working on concept art for book two."
“I never got to meet Jim in person, and say thank you. I think of this as my thank-you letter to him," said Isaac Stewart, Dragonsteel's VP of Creative Development. "We want to do this right. I’m telling you all, we want to do this right. That’s the spirit of this entire project.”
For more information on The Wheel of Time leatherbound edition project, including exclusive videos and previews of gorgeous concept art, make sure to subscribe to the newsletter for the latest.
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